


An Invitation

by Nezanie



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, au: they're former school buddies...with tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nezanie/pseuds/Nezanie
Summary: The banquet went all sorts of askew for Winter, her emotions bubbling and unconstrained,  she finds a helpful ear lent by the person she expected the least. Her former upperclassman turned vigilant, Robyn.
Relationships: Robyn Hill/Winter Schnee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	An Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after the episode when winter got angry at Jacques so it's a bit non conforming to canon but yay snowbyrd, or schneewood forest whichever we finally settle on.

Penny moved away as fast as a blink of the eye for her stunned superior - Winter never believed her to be an object to use and abuse, yet would she defy Ironwood who would say that she was under control? The thought had been swimming in her mind for days. Penny who was shuffling her feet as she somberly walked away from the eldest Schnee seemed no different than her sister Weiss, who used to do the same after a particularly bad training session. Now she had gained enough experience to even trick Winter and catch her off guard.

Winter couldn’t fathom what she had said that was so wrong, she still believed silencing her heart made for less messy turn of events she’d need to clean up later otherwise. Then why was seeing Penny so dejected making her chest feel so tight? Was it just because of the thoughts clouding her judgement.

‘If there was a solution where no one got hurt I would take it but…,’ she groaned, shaking her head. There was no time to be distracted, the meeting wasn’t over and her father could have another wild card to play.

“You’re not looking too well Ms Right Hand woman,” 

Winter frowned in the direction of the voice, tilting her body up to halfway only to make her displeasure visible enough for her visitor to leave her in peace. The suave smile on Robyn Hill’s face told her she wasn’t going to get her wish anytime soon.

“You…” she huffed, crossing her arms and glaring as hard as possible. Another headache that she hadn’t crossed in awhile, the last time she’d seen her personally the woman had been graduating.

“How do you do?” she replied pleasantly, ignoring Winter’s sour mood, “Robyn Hill, a pleasure,”

“I know who you are, let’s not play these games, Robyn,” Winter pointed out harshly, she still politely accepted the hand offered to her. Robyn was still an influential VIP of sorts, the people trusted her no matter the outcome of the obviously rigged election. Winter knew her father had people meddle, the attack coincided a little to perfectly with his timely win, no matter how close of a win it was. Weiss seemed to suspect something was very amiss in their former home and the elder sister found herself letting the girl do as she please and looking the other way. They both had a lot on her mind lately.

“I know, I was just being polite, trying out for a fresh start,” she replied, rubbing the bridge of her nose looking a little tired. Winter felt a little awkward putting her on the spot simply because she was in a bad mood (and she never knew how to act in front of Robyn). With a mischievous mile from beneath Robyn’s fingers, just before Winter’s hand could find the woman’s shoulder it was caught, Roby was pulling her along in her own childhood home.

“I hope you don’t mind but i’d like a little bit of fresh air before we continue this lovely chat, if you don’t mind, it’s a little-,” the woman made a show of pulling at her clothes collar, “Stuffy in here.”

“What conversation?” Winter barked weakly but found she hadn’t really the strength to argue. The shame of her emotional explosion earlier was still a deep cut that would most definitely scar no matter how she nursed it. She’d rather not be within a crowd or the near ace ops to remind her of how she lost control. She hated it. 

“The one we’re obviously going to expand on if you’d care to show me the way, pretty please?” Robyn gave her a wink before tugging at her sleeve which she wasn’t about to let go off. Winter was elusive and they didn’t have the time for a game of hide and seek.

Winter scoffed, fully aware the woman had probably kept her eyes peeled all around her as she was escorted to the meeting room. 

“Just lead the way Hill,” she muttered earning a chuckle. Winter felt her lips twitch getting sweeped up in the energy of the big boss of the Happy Huntesses. 

Robyn most certainly didn’t need a guide and quite willingly Winter followed this leader type of person -Ironwood had similar charisma - and she was finding Robyn was not that horrible as company. 

Just like in their school days, Winter’s legs just kept on moving after the older woman and she couldn’t understand why she was trusting someone who never moved out of the label of acquaintance so much. Robyn’s gentle hold on her wrist didn’t hurt her, or feel too pressuring, she could easily dislodge her grip and be done with it.

When was the last time Winter had been given such freedom to choose her path? It made her question Robyn’s methods, this all coupled with her confusion let her curiosity, the simple childish need to find out more about how her gears moved, choose to listen to what this ball of chaos had to say of her own volition. And she felt good about it, the action cheered her up a little. 

“Oh!” Robyn exclaimed, stopping abruptly and had the absentminded Winter, lost in thoughts and incredulity at breaking protocol on the job, bump into her back. The smirk she gave the younger woman had Robyn gifted with an annoyed glare. Sorry,” Robyn mumbled, pressing her index and middle finger to Winter’s nose. The hand was shoved away and Robyn raised her hand’s defensively.

“Seriously,” Winter huffed angry at being threatened like some fragile princess.

Luckily, there weren’t any guests or servants to see that embarrassing display.

_ ‘Now that i think of it, I haven’t seen anybody since a few corridors ago,’ _ she thought glimpsing around.There was a balcony which Robyn promptly pointed a thumb at.

“Think we’ll find the door open?” she asked without really waiting for Winter’s reply. The glass doors swung open without effort and the woman bowed for her, “After you, and don’t worry, the employees are so busy making this party a success they left the wing they’re not using completely vacant,”

“How about we cut with the pleasantries, I’m pretty sure you’re still boiling over everything General Ironwood does,” Winter spat not in the mood for games, she did however stomp across to lean against the balcony’s stone edge, “If out here is better for you to drop the charade by all means join me and close the door behind you,”

The challenge wasn’t left unheard, Robyn snickered at the floor before rising from her bow to stare at Winter with the same hard expression. Doing as was suggested, she took two steps reaching for the doors to pull them behind her and leaned against them to make sure she heard anybody that would come to find them.

“I’ll admit I haven’t been in the greatest mood, but it’s not like I have anything against you personally,” Robyn said with a nonchalant shrug, she frowned when Winter waved her off.

“I’m the general’s right hand woman, as you put it, how is that not something you’d find incriminating?” she gave Robyn a confident look, and raised her brow at the sudden uneasiness displayed by her rival.

“Alright, fair enough,” she licked her lips getting ready to deliver a fearsome lecture, “the general’s secrecy is appalling, and his lack of humanitarian support to Mantle without a shred of evidence that whatever he’s doing at amity is as precious as every single human life he’s risking isn’t exactly instilling trust...but…” She raised a finger stopping Winter’s temper from flaring at her once more. Winter begrudgingly leaned back unfurling her fingers from fists and crossing her arms again.

“Jacques Schnee calling me to this meeting, his humiliated opponent, and the rest of the council here today?” Robyn spat at the floor with disdain, “Does your father think me a fool?” She gave a laugh dryer than any desert, “I may not agree with ironwood, and I won’t stop being vocal about it until he does the people right but Jacques Schnee hasn’t exactly been on my ‘good rich guys I’d trust’ list either,”

“So you came to a meeting where you’re obviously outnumbered?” Winter hummed, she was trained to prod and the habit let her automatically keep the questions coming especially when the other party was willing to answer. Robyn didn’t give her much either way, nothing she didn’t already know so it was a game of wits and the bonus round was winning the other person’s trust. Winter, for the first time since she left her home, felt her resolve waver and the way Robyn looked her in the eye, her purpose quite obvious, made her charming indeed. It was difficult to forget the memories they shared, the rendezvous for breaks when they’d spend talking, the stolen kisses a youth would find exciting that actually meant nothing in the end.

She was admittedly, still very easy on the eye, though Winter would not voice that particular opinion. 

Robyn smugly shrugged giving off an attitude of being perfectly at ease. The way her shoulders didn’t exactly relax told Winter she was extremely vigilant nonetheless. “I got an invite, would be rude to not show up, besides I was hoping to meet a old  _ friend _ ,”

“I think he’ll notice you won’t dance in his palms all that easily, and a few escapades in our school days didn’t make us friends, did it?” Winter smiled seeing the woman deflate a little at her cold shoulder.

Robyn quickly retrieved her cocky smirk and Winter had to shake off the jittery feeling it made in her stomach almost immediately getting back into the neutral military stare she was so used to giving. She’d been noticing it was difficult to remain stoic lately, her expression used to be stone cold toward Weiss too even when she felt nothing but affection. With that in her mind, since her little sister’s return to Atlas, Winter had been poked by the girl to become more expressive as of late. Was Weiss’ own change pushing Winter to think things through again or was she being swept by her sister and reacting accordingly. Was it really all that bad to wear your heart on your sleeve? It seemed to have helped Weiss.

_ ‘Do I want to change as well?’ _ Winter found she could no longer answer the question at all, when a few months ago she had been perfectly content to do as she was told. If everyone was moving forward, did it mean she was frustrated because as the next candidate for Winter maiden, Winter would be standing still at a point without the possibility of carving her own path unlike her baby sister? 

“Do you mean your father?” Robyn asked with a sly tilt of her head.

Winter almost didn’t hear her, her own musings occupying her attention,  _ ‘Can I call her my baby sister any longer? She has grown far too much.’  _ The thought didn’t feel as good as it should have.

“Huh?” Winter grimaced, noticing Robyn’s eyes narrowing at her as she waited for a reply. Shaking her head, Winter sighed, “I’d rather not call him that, haven’t meant it for a very long time,”

“Well, that certainly puts you in my good books, along with your opinion on trust,” she came in strong trying to get the subject she wanted to press on the table.

“It was an idiotic slip of the tongue,” she growled looking away. 

“It was a show of character,” Robyn pointed out, walking back into her field of view and coming as close as she dared, “That was you speaking, Winter, not Ironwood’s little lackey,”

“I’m not his...!” she hissed, angrily pressing a finger back into Robyn’s face before breaking eye contact and exhaling, “I’ve got my part to play, a trusted position to defend, and I won’t be any use throwing silly tantrums!”

“Just because someone is chosen doesn’t mean they have no choice in the matter of their duty,” Robyn mused with a small hum of thought, tapping her chin, she clapped a hand on Winter’s shoulder, “Frankly, chosen one’s could just opt to leave it to somebody else,”

Winter gasped, shrugging the hand off, it felt as if Robyn saw through her. She couldn’t know of their plans, could she? How silly, she just knew how to get under people’s skin. It was her oral talent.

“That would be disrespectful and irresponsible,” Winter gritted her teeth, she didn’t want to hear this and she had to make sure not to let anything else slip. Everyone knew she had a position high up in Ironwood’s office but she might have just told Robyn how exactly high it was. 

_ ‘I might as well have told her I’m going to be the Winter maiden,’  _ she chided herself. The other half of her wondered if it would make Robyn sad to know her former flirt was about to lose her freedom in life to protect the world.

As time passed, the people she held close said things that spilt through the cracks in her armor and the more she was made to falter. Now she was making silly mistakes too.

Robyn shook her head, looking a little exasperated, “That would be a choice like any other, there’s always another way to do good besides being the hero of the hour,”

“Some choices are the obvious ones to take,” she crossed her arms challenging Robyn to prove her wrong. Ironwood had picked her from amongst the top because of her skills, resourcefulness and the relationship they tailored over the years. It was difficult to tell the man  _ ‘no’ _ when he spoke, charisma strongly resonating with his underlings he personally picked. Winter frowned a little remembering the way he pat her on the back when she was asked, she’d been shaken but the general gave her a little time to mull over her answer,  _ ‘no pressure’ _ he had said. It made sense to accept at the time, and it wasn’t something she wasn’t fearful about.

“It’s not a choice if it’s not easy to refuse, it’s a burden,” Robyn’s word cut at her heart, she was leaning onto her hands on the ledge and looking out to the outside grounds. 

Winter had trained with Weiss many months back just here, the sound of the water flowing from the fountain noisily echoing in her head.

Real life isn’t a fairy tale with some prophecy where one person gets to be the glorious unlucky bastard that saves the world. It’ll be a collective effort, I’d fathom, if there’s anything left of the kingdoms in a few years,”

“There’s no such thing as superheros,” she murmured peeked to the side at her companion.

“Exactly,” Robyn nodded sternly, meeting her gaze, “There’s only sacrifices and that’s not really fair is it, if they can’t fight for themselves?”

Winter suddenly felt very uncomfortable, shifting on the spot she tried not to make it show and huffed at the older woman, “Get to the point,”

Robyn bit her lip and exhaled. ‘ _ Oh to hell and back with this game, this stubborn fool wants to keep playing dumb,’ _

“Don’t be a sacrifice and come with me,” she asked rather bluntly, tired of going around in tiptoes.

Winter’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, she hadn’t expected to be dealt such a wild card,“Have you gone mad? Why? I could accept and become a spy for the general, and...I’m not some weak hussy!”

“Oy oy oy, take a breath! I don’t mean... _ listen _ to me Winter,” she shouted back and grabbed Winter’s shoulders, toning it down only when she had the woman’s attention, “It’s possible you’d be a spy but I’m willing to take the risk. If I earn your trust that won’t be a problem.”

Robyn placed a hand on her hip enjoying to cool breeze and smiled, “People tend to show their true colours when they lose their temper, and I liked what I saw, Winter, you caught my eye again,”

Winter felt her face grow hotter, she coughed, clearing her throat, “You’re right, I am loyal…” she emphasized her next words calmly, “ _ To the general _ ,”

“And my dear,” Robyn eye’s twinkled perhaps with a slight cruel light as she took her hand, kissing it lightly and never breaking eye contact, “ is he loyal to you?”

Winter opened her mouth to answer and shut it with a pop. The general was loyal only to his goals, the thought crossed her mind very quickly and left her speechless.

“I can’t answer you properly if you keep trying to fluster me!” she snapped instead clapping a hand to her forehead and growling to hide her disbelief and embarrassment.

Robyn chuckled rather happily, letting Winter take her hand back when she pulled it away. Her empty hands found comfort in the warmth of her jacket’s pockets and she gave Winter an easygoing smile. “Do I really? I’m glad, I want try this again, this friends thing even if you don’t want to join me,”

_ ‘Friends, we were sort of friends but… _ ’ Robyn looked at her with the same tenderness she did when they first kissed. 

“That’s just so you can persuade me,” she said closing her eyes from that gentle gaze, annoyed at how tempting the offer sounded.

Robyn rocked from side to side with a hum, “Partially so, I do want the friendship too, comes with the territory, we’re happy because we’re not just simply colleagues,”

Winter rolled her eyes, “I'm afraid, I've never been good at having friends, we don’t do friendship, we do business partners, work partners, and so forth.”

“That’s a bit sad,” Robyn could understand how Ironwood kept his secrets, even his most trusted were only _ ‘colleagues’ _ , and that meant they thought they had their boss’ respect when it was pretty much the paper thin kind. Pretty cold.

“It’s important work,” she replied, matter of factly.

“The people’s lives, on the other hand, is not just work,” Robyn whispered, pressed a hand against Winter’s cheek forcing her to look back so to emphasize her argument, “Nor is your life, I know Ironwood thinks what he’s doing is important and will fix everything, but it won’t, I’m inclined to think it will help...just not soon enough,”

“How …”

“A little buzz buzz happened to fill me in a little,” she answered cryptically, “People are dying now Winter, would you tell a child that losing a mother is a necessary sacrifice?”

Winter flinched, the sting coming a little close to home. Her mind went to years ago, her sister’s shocked face as her parent’s fought on her birthday, her father spitting acrid words about the love he never felt for his wife. Her brother kicking a ball aimlessly, alone as he sadly watched her go as she left for the military academy to never return again.

“...no, no I,” 

“Well the offer is open, whenever you need,” she slipped a tiny piece of paper into Winter’s gloved hand, “And please don’t punch me,”

Robyn moved quickly into Winter’s personal space before the woman could even quirk her brow at the sudden, confusing request. Her lips brushing the side of Winter’s mouth, and as shocking as the warmth of the kiss on half her cheek was, it was gone as Robyn tilted her body backward and jumped away, the wind from the force of the kick aimed at her head chilling against her nose that narrowly escaped being flattened.

Winter lowered her leg glowering. Robyn bowed to her, “My apologies, I only meant an innocent cheek kiss as a parting gift,”

“You didn’t change at all,” she said with a growl.

Winter was left with no other words, the little piece of paper tightly grasped in her fist as it shook half with indignation, half with exhaustion. Robyn Hill took off with a wink and when Winter followed her around to the corridor she slipped in to give her a stern scolding, she was nowhere to be found, most likely having left to the other side of the mansion and the meeting with the councilmen to continue the delegate. Her scroll vibrated in her pocket probably the general requesting she head back.

Opening her hand and narrowed her eyes at the little crumpled thing . Her expression softened, wondering if she was really standing there debating whether or not holding onto the thing was a good idea. Somehow she shoved it in her pocket and was done with the thinking about the strange invitation written on the paper. Robyn wouldn’t make it easy to find her, but it was obvious she would let Winter be found instead if she chose to. It was the way it always worked with them, when Winter was bothered by a class or a training session she’d botched, Robyn would magically appear to push her back on her feet. 

“I can’t be seriously thinking…!” she groaned at herself for letting their relationship get so jumbled when she had promised to ignore her and keep it strictly professional, but when the seed of doubt had been planted, it was too difficult to remove entirely. And what's more she found her heart would not stop fluttering about...at the mere idea.

“Snap out of it Winter Schnee,” she took a deep breath, launching to a slow trot, the heels of her boots clicking loudly in the empty corridor. She’d sleep on it later and deal with the Robyn thing when she was off duty. This house was too stuffy to let her relax.

Robyn was nearly at her destination, she knew that very well as she made the call on her scroll looking extremely pleased about the end of the conversation she had with her former underclassman. There was a lot to do but the fact that there was something as scrumptious to look forward to as the company of a powerhouse and beauty like Winter Schnee, it made it all the more worthwhile. She hadn’t exactly cut their ties, they’d separated gradually after she graduated having thought the girl would go back to her father and become a distant memory. She had actually wanted to call or something, yet the feeling of not being equals had prevented her from doing so. Now, it was a completely different story.

_ ‘Boy have I been ever so happy to be wrong,’ _ She threw the apple she’d grabbed on her way across the hall, venturing through the party crowd so the woman wouldn’t grab her to fight it out, caught the fruit expertly the minute it dived back down, and munched into it happily. It was better than the strange finger food the rich seemed to enjoy at the party. Bless the dessert table for having edible fruit.

“Hey boss,” Fiona’s voice sounded as chipper as ever, “Got anything good?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what a night this is,” she chuckled, looking forward to the retelling she’d give to her Happy Huntresses. “Everyone on stand by, just in case Fiona, I think this is far from over and it will get a little messy,,”

Fiona nodded, frowning at the goofy grin her leader was giving her, “Something good happened?”

“Just be ready, I’ll tell you the details later,” she gave Fiona a wicked smile.

“Roger,” she giggled, wondering what could have gotten Robyn into her playful moods.

Robyn pocketed her scroll with a grave expression as a butler came up to escort her back to the meeting room. Behind her Winter came into view noticeable pink cheeks as she walked beyond her to Ironwood side. She didn’t miss the sullen look she threw at Robyn when she threw a wink at the Ice queen.

_ ‘It’s going to be a long, long night,’  _ she guessed, following the duo into the room, eyes sticking to the pretty white back of Winter’s uniform. 


End file.
